Veritas
by Lovedrr
Summary: "A challenge leads the soldier and the spy to uncover a hidden truth..." Part of my 'pic-fics' series, the image can be viewed on my tumblr Lovedrr tagged 'pic-fics'. (Romanogers)


Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.

Note: The image can be viewed on my tumblr Lovedrr tagged 'pic-fics' post #104368275440.

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><p><strong>Veritas<strong>

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><p>Evansson Air Field<p>

7:03 p.m.

The secluded airfield in this deserted area of the country was classified top secret. Officially a S.H.I.E.L.D. airbase, it was designated for covert missions concerning national security. Not widely used, it was never very crowded or busy with traffic, and the lone returning aircraft touched down in the center of the outermost field. The engines quickly shut off and the passengers began to disembark.

Steve "The Captain" Rogers and Natasha "The Black Widow" Romanoff walked off the aircraft side by side and headed in the opposite direction of the S.T.R.I.K.E. team behind them. Being Avengers, the two of them were often segregated by themselves when working with other agents. Neither of them minded this at all, as they had grown very fond of each other's company over the last year of working together since the battle of New York. With their latent chemistry and unrequited feelings for one another, even business talks between them were close and intimate.

"That seemed too easy," Steve said once they were alone, preferring to talk to the spy in private.

"Things aren't that complicated, Rogers," Natasha answered with her smoky voice. "Relax. Sometimes simple is simple."

"That's an interesting answer from the woman that deals in deception."

"That's how I know the difference," said Natasha with a wry smile. "Besides, I think you're just upset because the targets weren't more competition for the greatest soldier in history."

"I do enjoy a good challenge," the soldier said wistfully.

"That sounds like a challenge," the spy said with a threatening smile. "I'll race you to the outer gate out there," she said, pointing to the far edge of the base roads leading back toward civilian territory.

"If that's what you want to call a challenge," responded Steve, his face breaking into a boyish smile which she found unnervingly cute. "What's the prize?"

"After I win," Natasha said, already speeding up her walk toward the hangar bay in front of them and putting some distance between her and Steve. "I will … help you find a date."

"A date?" Steve said in surprise, his mind wondering if perhaps this was her way of setting the two of them up together. "That's interesting, but I heard you wrapped that genius scientist kid in Advanced Tech around your finger by giving him kisses."

"Raising the stakes for your own loss?" the spy called smugly over her shoulder. "I like that. I won't have to worry about any of that since I'm going to win. After my victory, you pick me up for any more mutual missions we have for the rest of the year."

With those words, Natasha opened the door of her convertible sports car, tossed her bags inside and hurriedly started the engine. She rolled her window down as she pulled up beside Steve still near the door of the hangar bay, revving her motor in preparation to zoom away.

"I won't have to worry about any of that," Steve yelled over the humorously excessive roar of her vehicle.

"Bye, Sailor," the spy said with a wide playfully alluring smile.

Then, her tires screeched with smoke coming up from the burning rubber as she roared away.

Behind her, Steve smiled to himself. He really did have love a good challenge. Unfortunately, she didn't know that the deck was stacked against her. Steve raised his wrist comm to his mouth and switched on his personal frequency.

"Freedom, hot assemble," he commanded.

At his words, a small vehicle near the back of the hangar lit up and sprang to life. Arriving ten minutes after Steve, Natasha had not yet had a chance to see his newly redesigned motorcycle. It was outfitted with higher tech, upgraded weaponry, and of course, enhanced speed. On its own, the motorcycle throttled to action and speeded toward its master.

Steve smiled as he used his wrist controller to set its course. With a running leap, he jumped onto the seat without breaking stride, and gunned the engine with a powerful roar.

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><p>The main roads leading back to the civilian sector were always completely devoid of traffic. Since the airfield was classified top secret, it was in a rocky and mountainous secluded location, surrounded by a security gate with a range which averaged one hour to the nearest city. The supply vehicles and strike team were required to always stop by the main building for checkout, and since it was in the opposite direction, the roads stayed completely clear.<p>

Zooming down the road at breakneck speed, Natasha wished that the soldier had put up more of a fight. There wasn't even the slightest sign of him behind her. She too enjoyed a good challenge the same as he, but she was more hesitant to admit it. As she thought of her easy victory within her grasp, she felt her heart sink a little, and she reluctantly faced the truth behind the lie she had just told herself. This wasn't at all about the thrill of the competition. No, it was about the odd tingling heat she had felt in the center of her belly at the thought of his prize.

Maybe … Maybe she had wanted to kiss him.

The slight ache she felt in what was left of her heart was a solemn reminder to her that she still had one. Despite her best efforts not to fall for him in any way, the touch of sadness also told her that the soldier had still managed to slip inside of it. Obviously, he didn't want to kiss her. If he had, he would have tried to win the race. Looking again in her rearview mirror, he was nowhere in sight. The security gate was in view several yards up ahead of her, already opening to allow her vehicle to pass through.

Suddenly, Natasha's keen ears caught the sound of a sleek engine revving near her. Her eyes widened as she gazed into her rearview mirror to find the road still empty behind her. Too late, she realized exactly where he was.

Her heart smiled.

A second later, the lights of a motorcycle came flying off the rocky cliff above the road several yards in front of her, smoothly landing on the gravel off to her left side. With only a glance at her behind him, Steve gunned the engine and zoomed the last few yards past the gate already opened for them.

Behind him, Natasha floored her pedal, helplessly drawing every ounce of speed she could out of the car, but it was no avail.

They both won.

After passing the finish line, Steve slowed his bike just enough to let Natasha's racing car pull alongside him.

"Surprise," he called out, his words partially drowned out by the rushing wind of their velocity.

Steve didn't yell his victory at her. He didn't want the withdrawn spy to think that he was the type of man to gloat or boast like some of their other team members. This would prove to be a detrimental mistake.

Natasha's eyes widened with a sly smile at what she heard.

Had he just said 'Prize?'

Had he just called for his victory package before they had even stopped moving?

Maybe … Maybe he had wanted to kiss her … as much as she wanted to kiss him.

Well, if the usually reserved soldier was going to show a little daring, then the spy decided that she was certainly going to show him that she could match him in every way.

Pursing her ruby red lips, Natasha leaned over her door, feeling the wonderful wind whipping through her auburn hair, like the fanning of a burning flame over a fiery moment. Steve's eyes widened in surprise, watching as the lovely redhead leaned over slightly, obviously intent on giving him a kiss. Well, he had wanted to give her a memorable kiss after he won the race, and this would certainly qualify. He leaned down and pressed his lips against her own.

The moment was near magical, and both of them felt it. At the instant their lips touched, the world around them disappeared. Their lips were soft, warm and moist. The mutual desire to deepen the embrace was so overwhelming that it felt as if a heated weight had fallen over both of them. There was air and wind whipping and rushing around them, and they felt almost as if they were flying. In the twinkling of an eye … in a fleeting instant … in a single moment … they had fallen for one another.

Only the jarring shake of Steve's bike bouncing over a small rock broke them apart. They both turned to watch the road in front of them, making sure it was clear, as they smoothly slowed down.

Their reactions to this moment … were entirely opposite.

It showed right away. Steve angled his motorcycle off onto the shoulder of the road, leaving plenty of room for Natasha to park her car beside him. Instead of pulling over onto Steve's side of the road, the spy let her car drift off onto the shoulder of the other side of the road, rolling to a stop several feet in front of him.

Steve kept his face and demeanor calm, but inwardly he was smiling like a young boy. He hadn't realized that kissing Natasha Romanoff would make him feel this way, but now that he had, he easily admitted to himself that he had yearned to do that from the first moment they met. The tactician's mind easily thought ahead. As he dismounted his bike, his mind wistfully conjured fleeting images of taking her out on a date, romancing her, kissing her again … and again … and again. Perhaps this was the beginning of a future for the two of them together. Maybe … Maybe he might find something … someone… that could help him to find the happiness which steadfastly eluded him in his life.

Across from him, sitting momentarily in her car, Natasha lowered her head in sadness. In contrast to the soldier's elation, the spy felt as if her heart had just fallen through the ground. Natasha knew that she and Steve couldn't be together. The world would never accept them. After all the lives she had taken, her being with him would only decrease the heroism of all the lives he had saved. There were so few true heroes in the world, and she could not allow herself to diminish the light of its greatest champion.

Worst of all, the kiss had shown her that what was between them was real. Or, what could have been between them. The touch of his lips had held the promise of life, joy, happiness … things which a murderer like herself didn't deserve and never thought she could have in her life. For just a second, she imagined a life with him … spending time with him, being by his side as he upheld the ideals of a world, giving him a …

No, she could never give him a family. She could never bear him a son. That had been taken from her long ago, and she had never really thought of wanting it … until now.

The red in her ledger would never let her be the woman for him. In that moment, she decided that she would have to find him someone else. It would make the pain of not being with him easier to bear.

The kiss … This kiss … never happened. She would make him understand that. The Black Widow had spent a lifetime behind masks and disguises. This would be one of the most hurtful lies she had ever told.

Ever the chivalrous gentleman, Steve was already there to open her door for her.

"Natasha," he began in a low meaningful tone.

"Angela, from munitions," she said quickly, standing to look up at him. "She should make a great date."

Steve stopped dead in his tracks. The light she had seen in his eyes moments before quickly faded away. So did her own.

"I … I don't know about … her," he stammered.

"Her hair color is the exact same as yours," the spy continued twisting the dagger deeper into both their hearts. "You would make a great couple."

"I … don't think so," Steve said with a slight laugh, trying to think of some way to tell her how he felt about her.

"No problem," Natasha nearly interrupted him. "We'll just keep going until we think of a good date for you. We'll find you someone … nice."

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><p>Several months later…<p>

The van rolled down the highway at a steady pace. Its destination was a specific defunct army base in New Jersey. A great deal of time had passed since that private race, and Steve and Natasha found themselves still struggling with its aftereffects in this awkward moment.

They had just shared another kiss on a mall escalator to elude S.T.R.I.K.E. team agents which had been sent to apprehend them. Although the embrace had been staged and mechanical, the touching of their lips had conjured memories of their moment at the Evansson base. Internally, it had lately become much harder for them to deny their feelings for each other. They now found themselves reaching out to one another, trying to find some way to deal with their relationship.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" asked Natasha.

In her mind, she wanted him to remember. Even though she had tried to force them both to act as if it hadn't happened, her feelings for him had grown too strong now after kissing him again. Ironically, she found herself trying to find a way around the barriers she herself had set between them.

"It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm ninety-five. I'm not dead," he said.

Steve had just told her that he remembered everything. Of course he remembered when they had kissed before. As much as it had seemed that she didn't want him to remember it, his mind could recall every detail of that race between them.

"Nobody special, though?" prodded Natasha.

'_Did you find someone else?_' she asked without words.

"Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experiences," said Steve.

'_I can only share this life with you_,' he answered her without words.

Their conversation continued, the two of them locked in a verbal sparring match, trying to find some way to reach one another. Finally, the spy found herself broken.

"Who do you want me to be?" she asked.

'_I'll be anything you want_,' she thought.

"How about a friend?" he asked.

_'I'll take you as you are_,' he thought.

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers."

'_I can't be your friend because friends don't feel this way about each other_.'

Steve smiled at the thought he saw on her face, and the two of them continued together on their quest.

Now, they were finally starting to get past the lies and down to the truth between them.

Only the truth would set them free … to find love.


End file.
